The new iPhone — more secure or more colors?

Kai Ryssdal Sep 10, 2013
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The new iPhone — more secure or more colors?

Kai Ryssdal Sep 10, 2013
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Apple unveiled some changes to its iPhone line up today — not a big deal, exactly — more a different deal. The company plans to release not one but two iPhones, each at a different price point.

Apple trumpeted its iPhone 5C first. It’ll be the less expensive of the two phones, but Ina Fried of All Things D cautions against assuming that “C” stands for “cheap.” “I think it stands for ‘color,’ since it comes in a bunch of shades” and ‘China,’ because that’s clearly one of the most important markets for Apple,” she says.

The company confirmed rumors that the iPhone 5S would come with a fingerprint reader on the homescreen. But Fried, who was present at the announcement at Apple HQ in Cupertino, Calife., says the technology’s uses are limited to allowing users to “log into your phone which is obviously more secure than a passcode, and then also when you need to verify yourself when you make iTunes purchases.”

Fried says Apple insisted the technology would not be accessible to compromise by third parties, including via apps that a user may have downloaded to their phone.

Other news? Siri’s getting a new voice. “I don’t know how Siri personally feels about that,” jokes Fried, but users will now get to choose between a male voice and a female voice.

The new phones will go on sale September 20th.

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